“I was there when Ming Wah was built,” Mrs Lau recalled. When she was just two or three years old, her family moved into the civil servants quarters at Wang Wa Street, which was straight across Ming Wah Dai Ha’s muddy construction site. After countless rounds made by dump trucks and daily rock blasting (for complete story, please read our interview with Mr Tsuei Sheng Chen), the estate was nearing completion. “Before they set off the explosives, workers would sound the gong. When we heard the warning, we would shield our ears and go holed up in our rooms.” Sometimes rocks and sand sent flying from the blast would hit buildings across the road and break windows, yet no one complained. “Hoarding was not a common practice back then. If something was broken, workers would come and fix it.”

Planning for public housing development started in the 1950s after the end of World War II when Hong Kong’s population began to grow rapidly. Compared to those living in squatter areas in constant fear of typhoons during summer and fires in the dry winter, Mrs Lau was fortunate to be living in a sturdy concrete building at the time. Her flat was 700 square feet with a ceiling height of 10 feet. However, she was always looking at Ming Wah Dai Ha across the street from her windowsill. “I was envious of the residents of Ming Wah. I saw people milling around over there and clothes hanging everywhere. It was so lively.“ Residents would stop to talk to each other on the streets. Some would dry clothes and plant flowers on their balcony; and some would hang up red-white-blue canvases. She was attracted to the hustle and bustle of life in the estate.